Helegad

I bit the bullet and went out searching for a new card. Picked up a brand new (but dusty and faded) Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer for $30. GTA III sounds beautiful, as do many other games; Manhunt sounds particularly good. I have minor issues with San Andreas, from radio/dialog skipping to constant pops and crackles as samples start.

I've also managed to restore EAX in Driver just by copying over the files created by ALchemy. Warehouse reverb? Check

My point is, EAX is absolutely worth the trouble. Anybody sitting on the fence, I recommend you get your ass off it!